Time Thief

Sunday, February 17, 2008

nature room

I've received some questions about the nature room lately, so I thought I'd finally get around to posting about it. The nature room is technically referred to as a 'sunroom' on real estate documents. I re-named it because it actually wasn't very sunny. It was originally a screened-in porch and was (poorly) enclosed sometime in the 60's. The years had taken their toll and it was all kinds of rotten by the time I got here.

Pictures of the "before" and start of re-building follow. There are lots of pictures of rotten wood. I can't help myself. I'm compulsive about documenting and sharing pictures of rot.

Sunday, February 03, 2008

Today's lessons

I've been at this whole remodeling thing for like 5 bajillion years. You'd think I already know everything. Ha!

Working on the kitchen today. Yeah, so I've been a little remiss in keeping things current. Didn't I tell you? I'm working on the kitchen.

Anyway, back to the things I learned today.

1- You can unweld PVC joints if you really want to. Yes, I said unweld. Not 'unjoin' or 'disjoin' or any of the other things I tried before I realized Google liked 'unweld' the best.

I cut the thing all wrong and could've saved myself a lot of work if I'd done things right the first time, but I didn't fulfill the required 'staring at shit' prep time. So, I had a pipe attached to an elbow fitting and wanted to remove the pipe while keeping the fitting in place. Here's what worked:

Use a PVC wire saw to cut the pipe right at the edge of the fitting. (You can make a wire saw at home if you want (or even use twine), but it was worth the 5 bucks in time saved.) After cutting the piece away, you're staring into the hub of the fitting that still has a ring of the old pipe left in it. Grab your favorite rotary tool. Make several vertical cuts through the perimeter of the pipe; just deep enough to almost cut all the way through the piece of trash pipe (NOT the hub of the fitting). Wish I bothered to get the camera earlier so this would make more sense. You'll end up with something that looks like a comb? or a piecrust? a ribbed something-or-other? You know....material -- gap -- material -- gap -- and so on.

After you have several gouges around the perimeter, grab your favorite flat-head screwdriver or chisel. I liked the flat-ness of the screwdriver better, but I was in a tight spot and the small chisel was easier to maneuver. You just have to be careful that you are aiming at the trash piece and not digging into the hub of the fitting.

Now, hammer away. The trash bit should break off in small pieces. Try to aim it away from the pipe so they fly out rather than down the pipe. And be ready to move your face away when it does fly out. This is a drain line, after all.

Don't listen to the people who say to heat up the fitting. That just makes things bendy.

Number 2 thing I learned today: Never, never, EVER use liquid nails unless you are absolutely, positively sure it won't be YOU who'll have to take it apart some day. Oy! Punishment for a job well done, I guess.